Port Aransas, Texas Located on the northern tip of Padre Island, less than a 3 hour drive from San Antonio or Houston, Port Aransas is a quaint community offering excellent fishing opportunities both in the bay and along the beachfront. In addition, Port A offers a variety of other vacation activities, including shopping, excellent dining, golf and a vast array of hotels, condos and beach houses. This combination makes Port Aransas an excellent angling vacation destination for family fishermen heading to the Texas coast. Port Aransas, or Port A as it is popularly known, was perhaps Texas' first true angling destination. For a few years on either side of 1900, the community was actually known as Tarpon due to the large number of Silver Kings landed there. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, anglers came from across the country to fish the waters around Port Aransas for tarpon, redfish and speckled trout. Among those who have fished these waters are President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hedy Lamarr, and Duncan Hines, who was married at the famed Tarpon Inn. Today anglers are every bit as likely to find angling adventure in these waters as fishermen from 100 years ago. Tarpon still fill the pass between the Port A jetties during the summer months. Speckled trout and redfish are common catches along the beachfront during summer and fall. Anglers hoping for a little solitude can catch the St. Joe Island shuttle and fish along the beachfront of this uninhabited island for a fee of a few dollars. Port A is also an excellent jumping off point for numerous Coastal Bend bays. Nearby bays include Aransas, Corpus Christi, Copano and Nueces. The diversity of these nearby bays affords anglers the opportunity to chase fish over a variety of habitats, including shallow grass flats, sand flats, mud and shell, deep water structure and oyster reefs. This also ensures anglers easy access to speckled trout and redfish throughout the year. Additionally, Port Aransas remains the premier destination for kayak fishing along the Texas coast. The nearby Lighthouse Lakes Kayak Trail was the very first kayak trail established in the state by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Actually, there are four trails within the Lighthouse Lakes complex. These trails vary in length, but they all wrap through mangrove-lined shorelines and give anglers access to miles of grass-covered flats. This is perhaps the most popular destination for fly rodders looking to sight-cast for specks and reds in the Port Aransas area. Those heading to Port Aransas will find a variety of accommodations, ranging from rental homes to condos to bed & breakfasts to hotels. Many of these rooms are right on the beach. When not fishing, visitors will find plenty of ways to spend their time while touring Port Aransas' numerous shops, golf courses, museums and restaurants. The Aransas area is also the winter home for a large population of whooping cranes, always a popular sight among birders. Both Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the mainland and Mustang State Park, just south of Port A on Padre Island, offer a variety of outdoor recreational activities. From the moment one gets on the ferry from the mainland to Port Aransas, a sense of great things to come settles in. For fishermen in search of a great vacation, Port A does not disappoint. Resources: Fisherman's Wharf 361-749-5448 Woody's Sport Center 361-749-5252 Tarpon Inn 361-749-5555 Port Aransas Chamber 800-45-COAST *Port Aransas Harbor photo courtesy Aaron Reed